In 1966, the U.S. Congress passed the landmark Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), giving the public the right to government documents. This "right to know" has been used over four decades to challenge overreaching Presidents and secretive government agencies. FOIA has also become a model for other nations, spawning similar laws in sixty other countries. Nonetheless, the struggle for openness is far from over. This book describes the tactics that politicians and bureaucrats around the world have used to preserve government secrecy. It explains how profound changes in the structure of government - privatization of public services, the rise of powerful international organizations, the growth of tightly knit networks of security agencies - are complicating campaigns for openness. The complex effects of new information technologies - sometimes enhancing openness, sometimes creating new barriers to transparency - are also described. Blacked Out provides an invaluable overview of the challenges confronting the new global movement for open government.

In 1966, the U.S. Congress passed the landmark Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), giving the public the right to government documents. This "right to know" has been used over four decades to challenge overreaching Presidents and secretive government agencies. FOIA has also become a model for other nations, spawning similar laws in sixty other countries. Nonetheless, the struggle for openness is far from over. This book describes the tactics that politicians and bureaucrats around the world have used to preserve government secrecy. It explains how profound changes in the structure of government - privatization of public services, the rise of powerful international organizations, the growth of tightly knit networks of security agencies - are complicating campaigns for openness. The complex effects of new information technologies - sometimes enhancing openness, sometimes creating new barriers to transparency - are also described. Blacked Out provides an invaluable overview of the challenges confronting the new global movement for open government.